Ramblin’ Ricky Tate grew up in Birmingham, Alabama surrounded by music that had dirt under its fingernails. Long before he was recording albums, he was out on the streets of New Orleans and beyond, busking for whoever would listen and soaking up every old tune he could find. That time on the road gave him a foundation most songwriters only read about. He eventually settled into leading a jug band, carrying forward the pre-war folk and country traditions he loved, but his writing was always pulling him toward something more personal. What emerged over time was a sound rooted deeply in Southern Gothic storytelling, the kind where faith and sin share the same pew and the devil always has at least one foot in the room. His songs do not explain themselves. They trust you to follow.
The Magnolia Sessions is a recording series run by Anti-Corp Music out of Nashville, Tennessee, built around a simple but powerful idea. Artists perform live outdoors beside a large magnolia tree on the Anti-Corp property, and everything that happens in that space makes it onto the record. The wind, the crickets, the night air. None of it gets cleaned up in post because none of it needs to be. It is a format designed to strip away pretense and capture something real, and for an artist like Tate it turns out to be a perfect fit. Producer Dan Emery has worked with a wide range of artists through the series and brought Tate in on the strength of a mutual recommendation. What he got was an artist completely locked in from the first take, delivering performances with a clarity and conviction that made the job easy.
Track-by-Track
1. DRIFTING
The opener sets the tone immediately. Relaxed, old school, proper troubadour stuff, floating down a river of whiskey as if time has loosened its grip. There is no polish here, no studio sheen trying to clean up the edges. Just voice, guitar, and whatever ghosts happen to be hanging around. It is a perfect introduction to what this session is and what Tate does.
2. JULY JUNE BUG
The looseness of the opener continues here, but there is craft underneath it that never announces itself because that would rather miss the point. Tate’s delivery is conversational throughout, but there is weight in it. The kind of weight that only comes from someone who has actually lived close to the things they are singing about.
3. CATCH SOME HELL
Things get darker here. The line “I’m already in hell” arrives with a matter-of-fact delivery that hits harder than any dramatic performance could. The track feels like it wandered down the wrong road and decided to keep going anyway. It is a standout moment on the record and one of the most arresting performances in the entire Magnolia Sessions catalog.
4. TANGLED STRING
A quieter, more introspective track that leans into the folk side of Tate’s sound. The fingerpicking is precise without ever feeling clinical, and the imagery in the lyrics carries the kind of specificity that separates genuine songwriters from people who simply write songs. It is a small moment that lingers.
5. DEVIL’S DUE
The devilish tales Tate is known for arrive here in full force. The track is rooted firmly in the Southern Gothic folk tradition, the kind of song where a deal made at the crossroads feels entirely plausible and probably already overdue. Tate performs it with a grin you can almost hear, which somehow makes it more unsettling rather than less.
6. BLOOD OR WINE
One of the most atmospheric tracks on the record. The outdoor recording environment earns its keep here, the ambient sounds of Nashville at night wrapping around the performance in a way that no studio could replicate. The line between the music and the place it was made dissolves entirely, and you feel like you are genuinely sitting under that magnolia tree.
7. THE WITCH
Dark and unhurried, this track sits squarely in the Gothic country corner of Tate’s songwriting. The narrative is vivid and slightly unsettling, delivered with the kind of straight-faced conviction that makes the supernatural feel entirely grounded. It is storytelling at its most elemental.
8. WORDS YOU CAN SAY
The session closes with something that feels like a release after the tension of what came before. Tate steps back from the darker material and delivers something more open and reflective. It does not resolve the record’s themes so much as it gives you room to breathe before you start it over again, which you will.
Final Thoughts
The Magnolia Sessions is exactly what it promises and then some. Ramblin’ Ricky Tate is the real thing. No studio tricks, no algorithmic sheen, no compromises made in the direction of accessibility. Just an artist with deep roots, a lot of road behind him, and a set of songs he has been working on for years finally captured in a setting that does them full justice. The crickets are doing backing vocals and they are earning their keep. This one is for the late nights and the long drives.
What did you think of the session? Stay tuned to MusicOnTheRox.com for all your music news and reviews.
